Technical Field
The technical field of this disclosure relates generally to remote management and control systems and, more particularly, to verifying control operations executed by the management systems on remote devices.
Background Discussion
SCADA (“supervisory control and data acquisition”) systems operate with coded signals over communication channels to provide for management and control of remote equipment. Typically SCADA systems and other controlling applications, have the capability of executing control requests to remote devices, such as a circuit breaker, environmental control systems, lighting systems, energy devices, etc. SCADA systems can be implemented to control power delivery, operation of equipment, and remotely manage large or small devices. In some implementations, a SCADA system can control opening or closing a breaker at a remote electrical substation to manage power delivery. A user interacting with the SCADA systems typically receives confirmation of a successful control attempt (e.g., close or open the circuit breaker) by means of a message sent across a communication network generated by the remote device.
In some situations (e.g., critical systems and/or systems having safety considerations), it is desirable or required to have a secondary confirmation of a successful control event. For example, an engineer in a central control room can issue an open-breaker command to a circuit breaker at a remote substation. Before concluding that the circuit breaker is in fact open, the engineer may have someone visually inspect the circuit breaker (by driving to the remote substation).